THE NEW SPACE RACE: China launches second batch of 18 satellites for Thousand Sails megaconstellation.

A Long March 6A rocket lifted off from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, north China, at 7:06 a.m. Eastern (1106 UTC) Oct. 15. The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) announced launch success over two hours after liftoff.

The Long March 6A upper stage deployed the flat panel Qianfan (or “Thousand Sails”) Polar Orbit-02 group of 18 satellites into polar orbit for Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST). The project is sometimes referred to as G60 Starlink.

The mission will be followed closely for a number of reasons. The Long March 6A, developed by the state-owned Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST), has, despite successful launchers, suffered issues with its upper stage fragmenting. Its last launch—which carried the first 18 Qianfan satellites—broke up into a cloud suspected to number more than 700 pieces of orbital debris. SAST has so far not responded to requests for comment.

Furthermore, there are concerns over the apparent brightness of the Qianfan satellites and their potential impact on astronomy.

Another concern: using obsolete, disposable rockets it will be quite a long time before Thousand Sails achieves positive cash flow.